ABSTRACT
When speaking about secular trends we mean the changes in the population ruled by a biological phenomenon which manifests itself in mostly positive changes in body dimensions such as stature, body mass, in body proportions and also in maturation, in earlier occurrence of menarche and spermarche (Van Wieringen, 1978; Wolanski, 1978). Secular trend is usually characterized by changes over decades but the velocity of differences in body parameters can alter within short(er) periods of time, as well. In Hungary several studies on the secular changes in Hungarian youth were carried out (Mohácsi and Mészáros, 1987; Eiben, 1989; Bodzsár and Pápai, 1994; Mohácsi et al., 1994; Tóth and Eiben 2004).
